21^st SEPTEMBER 2013

Arms and legs outstretched, Jongdae woke up from the sweet smell of breakfast cooking. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to savor the delicious, mouth-watering smell of food. As he exhaled to his right, to his surprise, his nose hit something soft. Opening his eyes, all he could see was the beautiful sparkly brown orbs of his dear Hye Sun.

Jongdae cheekily landed a soft peck on Hye Sun’s pink lips and landed back onto his comfy bed as wrapped himself into a cocoon from his blanket, not wanting to get out from his comfort zone. His eyes peeked through the hole he made in the blanket and stared at the annoyed yet amused Hye Sun.

‘I guess I’ll just have to eat this by myself then.’ Hye Sun began to gesture, ‘No food for you then.’ She picked up the tray of food that she had earlier placed on the side table.

Jongdae bounced up from the bed and whined, “Aww, Hye Sun ah~” He made a puppy face and pouted at Hye Sun in hope that she would give in.

Instead, Hye Sun just wagged her finger and pointed outside indicating that he must come out to have breakfast downstairs. Still pouting, Jongdae crawled out of his self-built cocoon and followed Hye Sun downstairs.

It felt almost like it was just yesterday that Jongdae had his first kiss with the one who completed him under the falling first snow. He admired every single part of Hye Sun. Her flaws made her perfect to him. It has been two years since they have been together and in those two years, they went through the hardships of being college students together.

After graduating, Jongdae had become a singer-songwriter who became an instant hit with his widely known heavenly voice. Hye Sun, with the help of the amazingly awesome (as insisted by him), helpful Jongdae and her loving mother, managed to build a small business of helping the speech-impaired people to learn sign language.

Jongdae smiled to himself as he recalled all the memorable moments they had together through those two years. Who could forget the two butterflies, his first full song written and recorded by him, Hye Sun’s awkward first teaching days and the unforgettable teasing of Minseok on the two of them.

As Jongdae sat down at the table, opposite to Hye Sun, he continued to smile like a complete idiot. With his chin propped up with left hand, he picked up the silver spoon with his right hand and began to eat the breakfast cooked by Hye Sun. Although they ate in silence, the small interaction of their eyes and smiles and the being of one another with them was enough to satisfy them.

After they had finished eating, Jongdae tried to stand up to take care of the dishes but was stopped by Hye Sun as she gestured that it was his birthday and he must have enough energy to perform in the evening. Although he was told not to, Jongdae still secretly helped her by bringing the heavy dishes into the sink while she was not looking. He didn’t like to see his angel work too hard as she had to study on what to teach every day. The evident eye bags under her round eyes showed it all.

Jongdae took a piece of wet cloth and began to wipe the table clean. He suddenly heard a plate break into pieces. He was shocked to see a wobbly Hye Sun as he turned his head towards her. Abandoning his work, he caught Hye Sun before she fell on the broken pieces of the shattered plate.

He immediately carried her bridal style and laid her on the blue L-shaped couch. He could see that she was profusely sweating and breathing heavily. Jongdae placed his palm onto her forehead to fell her temperature and she was burning. He went back to the kitchen and took a clean white towel with a bowl of water. After dipping the towel into the bowl of water and squeezing the excess water out, he placed the wet towel on her burning forehead.

It must have been all the work and her restless nights of pulling all-nighters. He promised he would take good care of her and that is what he will do without restraining her of what she needs and wants.

“Take care of your health too, Hye Sun ah.” He said softly as he caressed her small head. “Recover soon. I’ll miss you.” Jongdae planted a soft kiss on her temple and stood up to clean up the broken pieces of the shattered plate.

As he tried to stand up, he felt an enormous amount of pain coming from his feet. He sat back down on a stool and was surprised to see pieces of the porcelain stuck on the soles of his feet. He was so worried of Hye Sun’s safety that he didn’t take care of his own safety. He looked at the floor and there they were, his bloody footprints printed on the floor. He mentally face palmed himself for printing the floor.

~R~

Hye Sun’s eyes fluttered open. She turned to her left to see Jongdae sleeping soundly beside her with his head on the couch. Not wanting to wake him up, Hye Sun carefully tried to sit up but failed as she felt her head was as heavy as a rock.

How long has she been asleep? She thought to herself as she recalled what happened earlier. She remembered being a little tired and dizzy that morning and as she doesn’t want Jongdae to worry about her, she tried her best to hide the fact that she was sick that morning because it was his birthday and she wanted to do something special for him like she has done last year.

She lay on her side and admired Jongdae’s perfect features. She softly played with his dark brown bangs and gazed at his long lashes. Her finger moved down his face. Her eyes landed on his soft lips. Those small curves at the end of his mouth made him look like he was smiling every time and that made her smile too. Jongdae’s eyes slowly opened.

“Had a nice rest?” Jongdae said softly, his voice sounding hoarse as he just woke up from sleep. Hye Sun nodded. She then slowly sat up, with Jongdae’s help, on the couch. That’s when she noticed the abundant amount of bandages and bloody cotton buds on the brown side table next to the couch. She pointed towards the direction of the side table with her thumb while looking at him.

“Oh. I got a little cut while I was cleaning the mess.” Jongdae replied and showed his bandaged feet, “See? All better.” Hye Sun pushed his stinky feet away and pinched her nose as if his feet were so stinky.

Hye Sun looked at the round black clock hanging on the wall above the couch and immediately stood up. It was 3.50pm and she has a class to teach in about 10 minutes. Before she could get upstairs to get ready, Jongdae grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“You don’t need to go to class today, Hye Sun. I already informed the students that you were sick today.” He explained as he stood up. He placed his hands on Hye Sun’s shoulders, “Today, you are going to rest all day. And as a bonus, you get to hear me practice for my performance for this evening.” He grinned and slowly led Hye Sun upstairs.

The sound of the strumming of an acoustic guitar filled the air. Jongdae’s voice was the most perfect sound that has ever come through Hye Sun’s ears. She admired him as she lay in bed while he continued to sing his songs for his performance. She had always followed him to his performances and small closed concerts and stood in the crowd. This time, she was the whole crowd. He gazed tenderly towards Hye Sun as he sang all the songs in his latest album, ‘For You’.

Every single word in the lyrics were all meant for Hye Sun. She was his universe and he was hers. They made the perfect match. Jongdae couldn’t think of anything that could ruin it for as long as he lives.

24^th NOVEMBER 2013

Today was the day one of Jongdae’s biggest dreams as a singer to come true. It was the day where he will start his first ever concert outside of his home country. News about his talents and heavenly voice has reached over to the other side of the world and he was invited to perform a solo concert in Los Angeles.

Jongdae felt really excited for the concert, yet, he felt crestfallen that Hye Sun couldn’t come with him because of her classes and her unhealthy physical condition to be on a flight. She had caught the flu and fever again due to her stubbornness to rest.

Being the stubborn Hye Sun, she insisted that she would follow Jongdae until the airport to see him off although she was persisted to stay and rest.

“Goodbye Hye Sun ah. Stay healthy, okay? I want you to be in fit condition when I come back here.” Jongdae said and softly poked her small soft nose over her white mask. Wrapping his arms around Hye Sun, he kissed the top of her head. As they parted, Jongdae placed one last kiss on her forehead. Hye Sun’s face obviously showed the mixture of sadness and happiness.

“Don’t be sad, Hye Sun. I’ll be back before you knew it.” Jongdae reassured her while giving her a reassuring smile. She nodded and gave him a small smile.

She watched him as Jongdae entered the gates to the airplane and couldn’t help but feel that she was missing him already. I’ll wait for your return, Jongdae.

25^TH NOVEMBER 2013 (11:59pm - LA)

Jongdae bowed as the audience wildly clapped and cheered for him. He thanked his fans for coming to the concert before it ended with his song, ‘I’ll Miss You’. After the concert ended, he went backstage and cleaned up. While putting his brown acoustic guitar in its case, he asked his manager to take him to every jewelry store there is in the area.

“What are you planning to do, Jongdae?” His manager, Park Chanyeol, asked, “It’s almost 11pm and you just finished your concert here.” He crossed his arms in front of him.

“Please, Chanyeol nim~. I want to buy the most special gift for my angel, Hye Sun.” He whined as he grabbed on Chanyeol’s arm in hope that he would fall for his pleading like always. As he predicted, Chanyeol gave in and agreed in irritation. He chuckled at how whiny Jongdae was when the matter was about Hye Sun.

~R~

Finally, after visiting 10 different jewelry stores and going through a crowd of his fans, Jongdae had bought the perfect gift for Hye Sun. He held the small black square case in his hands and smiled to himself in satisfaction. He couldn’t stop thinking of what he was going to do on her birthday after he will go back tomorrow. What was he going to do on Hye Sun’s birthday?

Propose. That one word meant so much to Jongdae. He knew he was ready for this and he hoped Hye Sun would be too. As he walked back towards the car where Chanyeol was waiting, he suddenly felt a vibration in his left pocket of his coat. He placed the square case in his other pocket and looked at the screen of his phone to see who it was that was calling him.

It was Minseok. He swiped the screen of the phone to answer.

“What’s up Min-.” Jongdae said but was cut off by Minseok.

“Jongdae,” Minseok’s cold and sad voice startled Jongdae. He had never heard him say anything in that tone. “I have something to tell you. Although I promised her I wouldn’t, I just can’t leave you in the dark any longer.” Her? Jongdae thought.

“Hye Sun,” Just by saying that one name, Jongdae face hardened and immediately jumped into the car, telling Chanyeol to head to the airport and book the earliest flight there is to Seoul.

~R~

Jongdae’s heart raced as he fidgeted in his seat of the airplane. He bit his fingernails, worried for Hye Sun. He recalled what Minseok said to him an hour before.

“Jongdae, Hye Sun is hospitalized right now. She was diagnosed of having thyroid cancer a few weeks back and… and she didn’t want you to know about it so that you wouldn’t have to worry about her because she saw how happy you were about your concert. I’m sorry for not telling you this earlier, Jongdae. She is going to be transferred to the National Hospital to have her surgery at 6 in the morning on the 27^th of November which I know that is her birthday. I’m telling you this because I just can’t stand here and just stay silent about something so big.” Minseok said as he could be heard crying from the other of the line.

Tears were streaming down Jongdae’s face as he thought of how unconscious he was of Hye Sun’s sudden fever that keep occurring lately, her sudden loss of weight and how she notified of how sore felt. All he thought was that she may be getting sick because the plentiful amount of work she had to do.

He covered his face with his hands and continued crying at the fate of Hye Sun who was waiting for her surgery on the other side of the world.

The 13 hours of flight felt like a week to him. He would try to distract himself from thinking about Hye Sun in the hospital by reading some magazines and playing games, but it wouldn’t work. Even if he slept, he would dream of her reaching out to him for help as he was pulled further away from her.

27^TH NOVEMBER 2013 (7:05am – Seoul)

Jongdae immediately left the airport without bringing along his luggage with him after they walked out of the airplane. All he had were some change enough for a taxi to drive him, his hand phone and the case in his pockets. He hailed for a taxi and went to the Seoul National University Hospital. He looked out the window of the taxi and saw that the opposite side of the road had a traffic jam.

“What happened there, Ahjusshi?” He warily asked the driver in a shaky voice in order to distract himself from being too anxious and worried.

“There was an accident that happened not too long ago. Though I am not sure what collided with the heavy trailer.” He replied and sped up as he could see the evident worry that could be seen from Jongdae’s eyes.

Jongdae ran out of the taxi as soon as they arrived and rushed towards the information counter on the ground floor. Panting, Jongdae asked the nurse about Hye Sun. She turned to the black compute beside her to check on scheduled surgeries for the day.

“Yes, Kim Hye Sun has an appointed surgery scheduled at 6:30 this morning,” The nurse said. Her eyebrows furrowed, “But the patient hasn’t arrived from the branch hospital yet. I guess you will have to wait, sir.”

Disappointment and worry surged through his body. He told himself to be strong and calm when Hye Sun arrives. As he was about to head to the seats placed by the walls, the entrance of the hospital suddenly bursted open.

His turned his attention on the stretcher that was being wheeled in by the paramedics. His eyes fell on the bloody body on the moving stretcher. His whole world came crashing down on him as the person was too familiar to him.

It was quite empty as he reached his destination. There, in the furthest part, was her. He moved closer towards her.

“Good morning and happy birthday Hye Sun ah,” Jongdae said as he placed the bouquet of white roses on the ground in front of him.

He kneeled down and bowed his head in sorrow. He lost a big part of his heart and his soul on that November of 2013. No matter how the people around him tried to comfort him, he still could not forget everything that has happened to Hye Sun. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he gripped onto the tombstone in front of him.

“I really miss you, Hye Sun ah.” He managed to say in between his cries of sadness. Even if he would even shed tears from blood, that would not bring the most precious person he had ever had in his whole life. He gripped the two rings that were tied around his neck and bit his lower lip to hide the crying sounds coming out from his mouth.

It took him a minute to like her and only a day to love her. But it would take a lifetime for him to forget about her. As he cried soundlessly, he knew that he will never move on.

Yay! Finally it's finished! Took me a day and a half and a good amount of ballad music in my ears to write this. Hope you like it and sorry for the tragic ending ;;_;; Till then, read, subscribe and comment! ^^ -Teenme14